Ho Chi Minh City police are investigating a gang who conned people into buying fake meteorites in an elaborate scheme.

A Saturday report by news website VietNamNet said the police have arrested ten suspects in the gang, including Thai Van Tuan, 36-year-old director of a gem company in the city, his wife Bui Ngoc Nga, and Nga's nephew Ho Quang Minh.

It was at this juncture that the police broke in and seized the money as well as the fake rock. The police had been alerted to the gang by previous victims.

The arrested gang members have told the police they had cheated several gullible people, typically those who strongly believed in the mysterious powers of meteorites, of several billion dong using the same scheme.